Semiconductor, light responsive arrays such as Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) or Charge Injection Devices (CIDs) are well known in the art. Such devices include an array of light sensitive cells each of which is responsive to light to store (or deplete) charge in proportion to light incident thereto during an exposure phase of a cycle of operation. The cells are arranged in rows and columns and the charges obtained during the exposure phase are moved along the columns, shift register fashion, to an output buffer between exposure phases. Such devices (CCDs) are well known to be useful as imaging devices in CCD cameras.
Devices of these types are made in various sizes, the manufacturing effort being directed at making ever larger chips with ever increasing numbers of cells. Chips having diameters from one to several centimeters are now commercially available with more than 256,000 cells per chip.